September 24, 2007

Well, I decided on a way to do a simple, password-free Arlo section (thanks for everybody’s suggestions), and all I needed was an appropriate (or inappropriate) comic to test it out with. Moments later, Monday’s Monty came online. (more…)

July 24, 2007

Several people asked me about this Monty strip, and I explained it thus: The reason he’s given 45 minutes to fill the hole is that he’s not supposed to fill it with asphalt: That’s why he has all those doughnuts, to help him drink a lot of coffee.

Whereupon everybody e-mailed me to tell me I was wrong:

Jenn Murphy: I think you might be overthinking that Monty strip. I immediately thought it was a joke on how long it seems to take road crews to get work done.

Filling in a pothole should just take a few minutes, but the whole team has to stand around and “study” the problem, then they have to take a break; they could really be holding up traffic for hours. Each member of the crew has a specific skill, as well, so the whole crew may be needed for the job.

In reality, the new guy should have no trouble filling the pothole within 45 minutes by himself, but, as part of the team, he has to do all the “procedures,” like eating those doughnuts, which makes that time a real challenge for one man.

Scott Davidson: I’ve never worked on a road crew, but I did work as a mail carrier once, as a summer sub, and I got yelled at for delivering the mail too quickly. I suspect Monty’s challenge is goofing off enough to make a five minute job last forty five.

June 11, 2007

“Last week in the French village of Mussidan, a thief broke into a home and got away with a number of items, including a television set. He was caught when neighbors spotted him breaking into the home a second time, while the homeowner was at the police station reporting the first break-in, because he’d forgotten to steal the television’s remote control.”